The Indoor Football League (IFL) is a professional
indoor American football league created in 2008 out of the merger between the
Intense Football League and
United Indoor Football. The league is the second highest tier in indoor/
arena football behind the
Arena Football League (AFL), and has operated continuously under the same name and corporate structure longer than any other current indoor football league, considering that the AFL's 2009 season was cancelled and the original league filed for bankruptcy that year. IFL players earn a minimum of US$200 per game played (before taxes). The season is typically about 14 games long, plus playoffs of two or more rounds.

2009 season

Of the 17 teams involved in the two previous leagues, 14 carried over to the new organization's 2009 season. An additional three teams came over from the
CIFL and two expansion teams began their life in the new IFL. In the
United Bowl, the
Billings Outlaws (Intense Conference) took the league championship by defeating the
RiverCity Rage (United Conference) by a score of 71–62.

2010 season

After losing two teams to attrition after the end of the 2009 season, and a third in January 2010, the IFL then added another nine franchises to boost its membership to 25 for the 2010 season. Three of the new teams were expansion franchises. Two moved over from the Southern Indoor Football League and
Continental Indoor Football League. After playing nine games of the 2010 season the
Alaska Wild suspended operations, leaving only 24 teams to finish the year. In the
United Bowl, the
Billings Outlaws (Intense Conference) took the league championship by defeating the
Sioux Falls Storm (United Conference) by a score of 43–34.

2011 season

Seven new teams were added to the IFL for the 2011 season. Some of these were new expansion teams, and others moved to the IFL from the
AIFA. The IFL also lost nine teams during the offseason, bringing the total number to twenty-two for 2011. In the
United Bowl, the Sioux Falls Storm (United Conference) took the league championship by defeating the Tri-Cities Fever (Intense Conference) by a score of 37-10.

2012 season

For the 2012 season, the IFL switched to a two-conference format with no divisions,[1] due in large part to the loss of all the Texas-based teams (except the
Allen Wranglers) to the newly formed
Lone Star Football League. The Wranglers brought attention to the league for offering a
$500,000 contract to unemployed wide receiver
Terrell Owens to become the team's part-owner and wide receiver. Owens accepted the contract.
ESPN3 carried Owens's debut game against the
Wichita Wild. The front office of the league saw changes as well, as Commissioner Tommy Benizio resigned.[2] The league appointed assistant commissioner, Robert Loving, as the interim Commissioner.[2]

2014 season

The league added the Minnesota-based
Bemidji Axemen to expand to 10 teams but the
Chicago Slaughter were sold and changed leagues, returning the IFL to nine teams for the 2014 season. In February 2014, the league announced that it would return to Montana in 2015 with the new
Billings Wolves franchise.[4]

2016 season

This was the first season the IFL utilized roster restrictions which call for all teams to carry no more than seven players with three or more years' experience in Indoor/Arena football.[6] For the second consecutive season, an AFL team was strongly rumored to join the IFL, as
Spokane Shock owner Nader Naini said on August 10, 2015 that he was considering all options for the team.[7] On September 1, the Shock officially joined the IFL, becoming the fifth active AFL/af2 franchise to leave for the IFL since the aforementioned Barnstormers, Fever, Blizzard and Revolution.[8] The Shock, however, would have to enter the IFL under a new identity as the Arena League announced on October 12 that they would retain the rights to the Shock logos and name, possibly for future use by another franchise in the state of Washington.[9] The team subsequently held a name-the-team contest, which resulted in their new identity as the
Spokane Empire.[10][11]

On September 9, the Minnesota Havok (based in
Mankato) were announced as an IFL team.[12] However, on January 29, just four weeks before the 2016 season was to kick off, the Havok were terminated by the league for failing to meet operational standards.[13]

On November 25, the Minnesota Axemen folded due to the team "Not fulfilling their commitments to the league."[14] Commissioner Mike Allshouse called the move a proactive one to prevent the team having to fold mid-season.[15]

2017 season

On June 30, 2016, the IFL announced that the
Tri-Cities Fever franchise would be dormant, but in good standing with the IFL, for the 2017 season.[16]

Project FANchise, a group aiming to create a professional sports team where fans help run the day-to-day operations, announced they would operate a new team, the
Salt Lake Screaming Eagles in Salt Lake City. A fan vote determined the team's name and logo, and select fans will have access to player personnel decisions and in-game play calling. Project FANchise also bought the
Colorado Crush in October and began operating the team in the same manner.

During the 2016 season, the Billings Wolves' website was hacked, was never completely fixed, and was non-operational for months. Several former staff members claimed that the team had folded after the completion of the season. On October 24, 2016, the Wolves announced they had left the IFL because of state regulations and failing to find new ownership for the team.[17]

On October 17, 2016, the IFL announced it had added the
Arizona Rattlers, previously of the
Arena Football League, for the 2017 season.[18] The Rattlers are the third team in three consecutive seasons to leave the AFL for the IFL. The league rejected the bid of another former AFL franchise, the
Jacksonville Sharks, who are located outside the IFL's regional territory. They subsequently announced their charter membership in an entirely new league, the
National Arena League[19]

2018 season

After the 2017 season came to a close, the website for the Colorado Crush was shut down with no formal announcement on the franchise's future. Project FANchise, who also ran the Salt Lake Screaming Eagles, had announced they would start their own league and left the IFL, with both teams going up for sale.[20] On July 12, 2017, the Spokane Empire announced that they would be suspending operations effective immediately.[21]

On July 25, 2017, the IFL announced that only the Arizona Rattlers, Cedar Rapids Titans, Green Bay Blizzard, Iowa Barnstormers, and Nebraska Danger had committed to play for 2018.[22] However, expansion clubs and current member clubs had until September 1 to commit to the 2018 season.[23] On August 30, the Sioux Falls Storm announced that they had joined
Champions Indoor Football for 2018 after winning six consecutive championships from 2011 to 2016. The Storm was shortly followed by the
Wichita Falls Nighthawks.

The IFL then added the
Bloomington Edge and
West Michigan Ironmen from the CIF on September 12.[24] The CIF apparently then attempted to sue the IFL, Edge, and Ironmen for leaving the CIF after the two teams had already signed league affiliation agreements with the CIF for 2018. The IFL then threatened to sue the CIF, Storm, and Nighthawks in return despite neither former IFL team signing an affiliation agreement with the IFL for 2018.[25] The CIF then retracted their lawsuit with the IFL but also removed the Storm and Nighthawks from their 2018 schedule.[26] After the IFL meetings in October 2017, the Storm returned to the IFL[27] but the Nighthawks had to suspend operations.[28] While the CIF did drop the lawsuit against the IFL, it filed for an injunction against the Edge and Ironmen teams from participating in the IFL for breaking the terms of their signed affiliation agreements. A temporary injunction from participation in the league was granted on January 31, 2018, with the court ruling determining that both teams had been offered bribes from the owner of the Arizona Rattlers to break their contract with the CIF.[29][30] The schedule was revised in February for the six participating teams stating the Edge and Ironmen were to return in 2019.

During the season, the Cedar Rapids Titans' ownership announced the team was for sale with hopes of selling to new local ownership.[31] In June 2018, it was announced that the Titans had been sold to Roy Choi, a California-based businessman, with the intentions of keeping the team Cedar Rapids but would rebrand the team.[32][33]

2019 season

In August 2018, the IFL announced that the expansion
Tucson Sugar Skulls, owned by Rattlers' coach Kevin Guy, were joining the league after being rumored to have joined the CIF. On September 7, the IFL announced that the
Quad City Steamwheelers would join the league from the CIF.[34] The Cedar Rapids team announced their rebrand as the
Cedar Rapids River Kings on September 22.[35] On October 5, the
Bismarck Bucks of the CIF announced their move to the IFL.[36] On November 19, the IFL announced another expansion team, the
San Diego Strike Force, owned by the new Cedar Rapids owner Roy Choi to bring the league back up to ten teams.[37]

Former

Left for another league

Bloomington Edge – Left IFL after 2012 season; rejoined the IFL for the 2018 season but was subsequently barred from playing in the IFL that season due to ligation over its departure from the CIF. Played an independent schedule in 2018 with the intent of rejoining the IFL in 2019,[39] but were not included in the league schedule.

West Michigan Ironmen – Attempted to join the IFL for the 2018 season from the CIF but was barred from joining. The team was sold in 2018 and the new ownership was announced as rejoining the CIF for 2019, but were not included for 2019.[44]

Failed expansions

CenTex Barracudas – Originally announced as a 2009 IFL member but then was not included in 2009 alignment.

Cheyenne Warriors – Owner died shortly before 2013 season began and team suspended IFL operations prior to first season They played a few games in the DIFL, and shutdown entirely in May 2013.[53][54][55]

Everett Destroyers – Originally announced as a 2009 IFL member but then was not included in 2009 alignment.

Frisco Thunder – Originally announced as 2009 IFL member but then announced they would take season off while
Dr Pepper Arena was being renovated and never returned.

Minnesota Havok – Announced for 2016 season but were terminated by the league one month prior to the season for failure to reach minimum operational standards.

Timeline

United Bowl Championship

The United Bowl is the IFL's championship game. It has been played every year since 2009. The current United Bowl Champions are the
Iowa Barnstormers, who won their first United Bowl championship in 2018. The
Sioux Falls Storm won six straight United Bowls from 2011 to 2016.

The IFL continues to use the "United Bowl" name originally used by
United Indoor Football. The UIF used this name before they merged with
Intense Football League to form the Indoor Football League. The UIF held United Bowl I, II, III, and IV in 2005 through 2008, with all four being won by the
Sioux Falls Storm. Although the name "National Indoor Bowl Championship" was used for the 2008 contest between the UIF and the Intense Football League, the "United Bowl" name continues to be used for the combined league's championship instead.

Hall of Fame

The Indoor Football League Hall of Fame was established in 2014. The inaugural 2014 class of inductees included quarterback Terrance Bryant, radio sportscaster Rich Roste and former IFL Commissioner Tommy Benizio. The 2015 class included quarterback
Chris Dixon, running back LaRon Council and defensive back/kick returner B.J. Hill. The 2016 class included linebacker Mark Blackburn, defensive back
Lionell Singleton and
Colorado Ice/Crush owner Tom Wigley. The 2017 class included wide receiver James Terry, head coach Robert Fuller and defensive lineman Cory Johnsen.[56]